Chosen from over 700 submissions from Africa, Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, Socialgiver was recently named the grand winner of the 2nd Singtel Group-Samsung Regional Mobile App Challenge.
In addition, OTTO was recognized as the Samsung Innovation Award winner.
The grand Singtel Group-Samsung winner, Socialgiver from Thailand, caught the attention of the judges with its platform to connect consumers, businesses, and charities to create meaningful social impact.
Socialgiver offers consumers special rates from businesses that have excess capacity such as hotel with extra rooms or restaurants with extra dining spots. Part of the money earned is then donated to charity, while ensuring the business receives tax rebates.
The Samsung Innovation Award winner, OTTO from Australia, was chosen by Samsung as it demonstrated the greatest level of synergy with Samsung?s product portfolio.
Both teams will have the opportunity to work with the Singtel Group and Samsung to market their apps to Singtel Group?s footprint of over half a billion mobile customers across Asia, Australia and Africa. They will also enjoy prime product placement on Samsung content and services platforms.
?As income levels rise in the emerging markets and smartphones become ever more affordable, what was once a luxury good is now fast-becoming a basic necessity. The right mobile apps now have the power to create new economies and improve people?s lives by helping them save time, energy and money,? said Mark Chong, Singtel?s CEO International.
?The Singtel Group-Samsung Regional Mobile App Challenge is a platform to encourage talented app developers to grow their companies and bring their innovations to market more quickly. At the same time, we seek to help our customers gain access to a larger variety of apps ? whether it is to automate their homes or manage their lifestyles.?
Jointly organized by the Singtel Group and Samsung, the challenge started in May 2015 with local competitions in Africa (Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Madagascar and Niger), Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, where two finalists per region were chosen.
These teams attended a two-day mentorship program in Singapore in October and represented their countries in the final pitching session today, held at Jakarta?s Fairmont Hotel.
Judges include industry leaders such as William Tanuwijaya, co-founder and CEO of Tokopedia, as well as senior representatives from the Singtel Group and Samsung.
